Saddam Hussein's regime is despicable, he is developing weapons of mass destruction, and we cannot leave him doing so unchecked. He is a threat to his own people and to the region and, if allowed to develop these weapons, a threat to us also.

The view we took at the time and we take it now is that the war was justified legally because he [Saddam Hussein] remained in breach of UN resolutions.

The world is a better place with Saddam in prison not in power.

I would've loved to have been in a band, but sadly I just wasn't good enough.

But I am an optimist about Britain; and the difference between an optimist and a pessimist is not that the optimist believes the world is wonderful and the pessimist believes it's beset by challenges; the difference is the pessimist believes we will be defeated by them; the optimist thinks the challenges can be overcome.

There will be no peace in our world without an understanding of the place of religion within it.

Retreat might give us a moment of respite but years of repentance at our weakness would, I believe, follow.